Ceiling tile system

ABSTRACT

An improved ceiling tile system that avoids the use of conventional furring strips, characterized by the provision of spaced parallel exposed decorative support strips for connecting rows of ceiling tile arranged therebetween to the lower surfaces of joists. The adjacent side edges of the strips and tile rows are connected by tongue and groove joints, said strips extending transversely beneath the joists and being nailed directly thereto.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Norman Seegert International Falb, Minn.

[21] Appl. No. 717,320 [22] Filed Mar. 29, 1968 [45] Patented June 22, 1971 [73] Assignee Boise Cascade Corporation Boise, Idaho [54] CEILING TILE SYSTEM 1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl. 52596, 7 52/311 [51] Int. Cl E041) 5/52 [50] Field oiSearch 52/311, 7 483, 488, 496, 492,288, 287, 489, 484, 485, 497

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 735,969 8/1903 Guilhou 52/483 2,648,877 8/1953 Verrnilya... 52/488 3,251,164 5/1966 Wright 52/488 X 3,331,172 7/1967 Blanchet 52/288 Fri/nary Examiner-John E. Murtagh Attorney-Lawrence E. Laubscher ABSTRACT: An improved ceiling tile system that avoids the use of conventional furring strips, characterized by the provision of spaced parallel exposed decorative support strips for connecting rows of ceiling tile arranged therebetween to the lower surfaces of joists. The adjacent side edges of the strips and tile rows are connected by tongue and groove joints, said strips extending transversely beneath the joists and being nailed directly thereto.

PATENTEUJUNZZISYI 3585772 IO l2 F 7. 4 I l0 I2 I INVENTOR j Norman Seegen gm XWW ATTORNEY CEILING TILE SYSTEM In conventional ceiling tile systems, the ceiling tile are norsely beneath the joists. One edge of the tile is stapled to the associated furring strip, and all four edges of the tile are provided with tongue and groove means for connection with the adjacent tile of the system. Consequently, the resultant ceiling has an unbroken uniform tile pattern.

The present invention relates to an improved ceiling tile system that has the appearance of a beam" configuration, decorative parallel spaced support strips being arranged between successive rows of tiles. The tiles and support strips have coplanar lower surfaces and are both contiguous with the lower surfaces of the joists, said strips and rows extending transversely beneath the joists. By nailing the support strips directly to the joists and by connecting the edges of the strips with the tile rows by tongue and groove joints, a ceiling tile system is achieved in which the use of conventional furring strips is eliminated.

Thus, the primary object of the present invention is to provide a ceiling tile system in which spaced rows of tiles are secured to ceiling joists solely by means of exposed support strips arranged therebetween and connected thereto by tongue and groove means.

According to a more specific object, at the comers between the ceiling and a wall, the free edges of a tile now are fastened to backing strip means arranged between and flush with the lower surface of the joists, cove molding trim strip means being secured beneath the tile at the comer to conceal the fastening means.

Another object of the invention is to provide a ceiling tile system in which the individual tiles of a plurality of spaced tile rows are connected by tongue and groove joint means, the tile rows being supported solely by decorative exposed support strips arranged therebetween and connected thereto by tongue and groove means. The decorative strips, which may be leveled by the use of shims, extend transversely beneath the joists and are nailed directly thereto, whereby the need for furring strips is eliminated.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a study of the following specifications, when viewed in the light of the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a bottom plan view of the ceiling system of the present invention;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are sectional views taken along lines 2-2 and 3-3, respectively, of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a detailed sectional view of a modification of the support strip shown in FIG. 1.

Referring first more particularly to FIGS. 1-3, the ceiling system of the present invention comprises a plurality of parallel spaced wooden ceiling joists 2 supported by wall means 4. Connected to the lower surfaces of the joists by means of transversely extending parallel spaced support strips 6 are a plurality of rows 8 of ceiling tile 10 the adjacent edges of which are connected by conventional tongue and groove means 12 (as shown in FIG. 3).

Referring to FIG. 2, the support strips 6, which are of a suitable material such as wood, a synthetic plastic material or the like, are nailed directly to the joists by mails I4. Ifnecessary, the support strips are first leveled by means of shims, not shown. The ceiling tile rows are supported at their edges by the lateral edges of the support strips by tongue and groove connections 16.

At the corner between the ceiling joists 2 and the wall 4, backing members are secured between the joists, said backing members and joists have coplanar lower surfaces. The

edges of the tiles of the first row 8a adjacent the corner have the tongue and groove means removed therefrom and are nailed directly to the backing members 20 by the nails 22. Decorative cove molding trim means 24 are fastened (either adhesively or by suitable fastener means) to the ceiling to conceal the nails 22 and to provide a pleasing decorative appearance.

Although the lower exposed surfaces of the support strips are nonnally stained or painted in their natural state, they may be provided with a layer of decorative laminate 34, as shown in the modification of FIG. 4. For example, the laminate 34 may be a photographic walnut pattern, or the like, the cove molding strip 24 having a matching color, whereby a pleasing rustic beam appearance is given to the ceiling system.

Referring to FIG. 2, to assemble the ceiling, the backing members 20 are secured between the joists at the ceiling-wall comer, as shown, the first support strip 6a is loosely nailed in place, and the right-hand edge of the first tile row 8a is connected with the strip 6a by the tongue and groove joint. The free edge of the first tile row 8a is nailed to the backing member 20 by the nails 22, the nailing of the first support strip 6a is completed, and the prefinished cove molded trim strip is fastened in place to conceal the adjacent tile edges and the nails 22. During this assembly of the first row, the adjacent edges of the tiles defining this row were connected successively by their normal tongue and groove connections 12. To connect the next tile row 8b, the second support strip 6b is nailed loosely in place, the edges of the second tile row 8b are connected by the tongue and groove joints 16 to the strips 6a and 6b whereupon the strip 6b is rigidly nailed to the joists. The nails 14 are countersunk and the nail holes are filled with matching filler or putty. The successive tile rows and support strips are similarly mounted in place to complete the ceiling construction.

While in accordance with the provisions of the Patent Statutes, the preferred form and embodiments of the invention now known to me have been illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made without deviating from the invention set forth in the following claims.

What I claim is:

I. A ceiling system, comprising:

fixed joist means including a plurality of parallel spaced horizontal ceiling joists arranged with their lower edges contained in a common horizontal plane;

a plurality of coplanar horizontally spaced decorative support strips extending normal to, and secured in contiguous engagement with the lower edges of, a substantial number of said ceiling joists;

a plurality of horizontal rows of ceiling tile each arranged between, coplanar with and extending longitudinally of a pair of said support strips, respectively, each of said support strips and said ceiling tiles being generally of the same thickness, whereby said support strips and said ceiling tiles have coplanar upper and lower surfaces, respectively, the horizontal dimension of said support strips being less than that of said ceiling tile;

first tongue and groove means for connecting each ceiling tile of each row with the next successive tile of that row;

and second tongue and groove means connecting the longitudinal edges of said decorative strips with the adjacent edges of said rows, respectively;

said first and second tongue and groove means maintaining in contiguous surface-to-surface contact with the entire lower edge surface of each of said ceiling joists portions of successive ones of said decorative strips and said ceiling tile rows, respectively. 

1. A ceiling system, comprising: fixed joist means including a plurality of parallel spaced horizontal ceiling joists arranged with their lower edges contained in a common horizontal plane; a plurality of coplanar horizontally spaced decorative support strips extending normal to, and secured in contiguous engagement with the lower edges of, a substantial number of said ceiling joists; a plurality of horizontal rows of ceiling tile each arranged between, coplanar with and extending longitudinally of a pair of said support strips, respectively, each of said support strips and said ceiling tiles being generally of the same thickness, whereby said support strips and said ceiling tiles have coplanar upper and lower suRfaces, respectively, the horizontal dimension of said support strips being less than that of said ceiling tile; first tongue and groove means for connecting each ceiling tile of each row with the next successive tile of that row; and second tongue and groove means connecting the longitudinal edges of said decorative strips with the adjacent edges of said rows, respectively; said first and second tongue and groove means maintaining in contiguous surface-to-surface contact with the entire lower edge surface of each of said ceiling joists portions of successive ones of said decorative strips and said ceiling tile rows, respectively. 